Prey on the Prowl
Blurb
Even as Detective Dhruva was enamored of Kavya, whom he rescues from her kidnapper, Radha, an alleged murderess on the run, gatecrashes into his life.
But when Kavya too joins him after her man was poisoned there ensues the tussle of a love triangle, which gets unraveled in a poignant end, but not before a series of murders.
So, then who could have poisoned Ranjit the realtor, Shakeel the Inspector, Pravar the criminal and Natya his accomplice?
Well the needle of suspicion tilted towards Pravar that was till he perished with his mate, but then who was the one?
Could it be Radha under the scanner for her role in the death of her husband Madhu and his mistress Mala, Pravar's sister?
Or was it Ranjit's spouse Kavya, who owing to Stockholm Syndrome, takes to Pravar her kidnapper.
As these deaths by poisoning puzzle Dhruva, Radha avers that Kavya had the motive and the means to kill her spouse, her paramour and his wife besides the cop.
However, reckoning that when the ill-motives of the natural suspects to commit a murder are an open secret, someone with a hidden agenda might be tempted to use that as a camouflage for his subterfuge, Dhruva begins to look around for the culprit.
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Prey on the Prowl – A Crime Novel
BS Murthy
ISBN 81-901911-4-4
Improved Edition © 2021 BS Murthy
Original copyright © 2014 BS Murthy
Cover design of Gopi's water color painting by Lattice Advertisers, Hyderabad.
Self Imprint
F-9, Nandini Mansion,
1-10-234, Ashok Nagar,
Hyderabad – 500 020
Other books by BS Murthy –
Benign Flame – Saga of Love
Jewel-less Crown - Saga of Life
Crossing the Mirage – Passing through youth
Glaring Shadow - A stream of consciousness novel
Of No Avail: Web of Wedlock (A Novella)
Stories Varied - A Book of Short Stories
Onto the Stage – Slighted Souls and other stage and radio plays
Puppets of Faith: Theory of Communal Strife (A Critical Appraisal of Islamic Faith, Indian Polity 'n More)
Inane Interpolations in Bhagvad-Gita (An Invocation for their Revocation)
Bhagvad-Gita: Treatise of self – help (A translation in verse)
Sundara Kãnda - Hanuman's Odyssey (A translation in verse)
Agenda for Revenge
Chapter 1: Prey on the Prowl
Chapter 2: Shakeel's Fixation
Chapter 3 : Ranjit's Predicament
Chapter 4 : Rags to Riches
Chapter 5 : Dhruva's Dilemma
Chapter 6: The Gatecrasher
Chapter 7: Operation Checkmate
Chapter 8: Foul on Pravar
Chapter 9: Stockholm Syndrome
Chapter 10: An Aborted Affair
Chapter 11: Psyche of Revenge
Chapter 12: Victim of Trust
Chapter 13: Backyard of Life
Chapter 14: Cuckoo's Nest
Chapter 15: 'Untried' Crime
Chapter 16: Kavya's Quagmire
Chapter 17: Murders to Mislead
Chapter 18: The Other Woman
Chapter 19: Shakeel's Demise
Chapter 20: A Perfect Murder
Chapter 21: Deaths in Spandan
Chapter 22: Arraigned in Remand
Chapter 23: Depressing Discovery
Chapter 24: The Red Herring
Chapter 25: Wages of Abuse
Chapter 26: Decoding the Crime
Chapter 27: A Poignant End
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Dedicated to all those women,
whose loving glances have made
my life's journey a joyous sojourn.
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Chapter 1, Prey on the Prowl
That June evening, the crimson sun gave in to the dark monsoon clouds to let them end its long summer reign over the Deccan skies. What with the thickening clouds thundering in triumph, Detective Dhruva woke up from his siesta, and by the time he moved into the portico of his palatial bungalow at 9, Castle Hills, the skies had opened up to shower its sprawling lawns. It was as if the eagerness of the rainfall matched the longing of the parched soil to receive its fertile mate in an aroma of embrace, and in the ensuing echoes of that seasonal union, the roots of the garden plants devoured every raindrop, that is, even as their leaves shed the overburden to accommodate the new arrivals.
In that setting, as Dhruva, impelled by all that, stood engrossed, Raju, the housekeeper, fetched him a plateful of hot pakodas, which, facing the spatter, he began to savor, and before he had finished with the snack, Raju returned with a mug of steaming Darjeeling tea for him. Soon, as the refreshed sun resurged to warm up the leaves, even as the satiated roots let the bounty go down the drain; done with the beverage, the detective picked up the sachet of lanka pogaku to roll a cigar, and then as he reached for the cigar lighter, the rainbow, in its resplendent colors, unfolded in the misty skies. However, when he began puffing away at the exotic cigar, as if dispelled by its strong scent, the dissipated clouds began disappearing from the horizon.
Having savored the cigar to the last puff, as he stubbed the butt and stepped out onto the lush green wet lawn, Dicey, the Alsatian, followed him, as if to leave its own footprints on the damp canvas in its master's tracks. Then, even as the rainy clouds began regrouping in the skies, he covered the garden to caress every croton and coleus as he would his pet. But when it portended downpour, Raju led Dicey into the portico and the detective headed towards the study to pick up the half-read Crimes Digest of the month.
But yet again, as it was a downpour, Dhruva reached the first-floor window, standing by which, he thought that it was akin to the urge of an assassin to revisit the scene of the crime, for a review of the same. Amused by his analogy, he thought the sky was at obliterating its earlier footprints on the earth, but when it ceased raining and it turned murky, as if mourning the loss of its resplendence, he too began immersing himself in the dark world of crime the Digest pictured, even as Raju let the pet do the patrolling of the premises.
Soon though, Dicey began barking at the gate, again inducing Dhruva to reach to the window, through which he saw a sensuous woman, tentative at the half-open Iron Gate of his mansion. Enamored of her attractive face and desirous of her middle-aged frame, as he stood rooted, the pet sprang up to the gate, forcing the tantalizing trespasser to beat a hasty retreat. No less affected by her sensual gait in her retreat, the detective lost his eyes to her, until she went out of his sight, but readily alive to her loss, he cursed himself for not sticking to the portico. Thus, obsessed with her, though, inexplicably, he rushed to the gate, only to see her turning the bend, even as Inspector Shakeel came into view on his Bajaj Pulsar.
When the cop greeted the detective, feeling lost, he forced himself to hug him, even as his pet leapt up to the visitor in welcome; however, as Raju took away Dicey, wondering aloud what made him scarce, for nearly three months then, Dhruva led Shakeel into the portico. So, as the cop began to detail how he had reached the dead-end of a double murder investigation on hand, the detective closed his eyes, as if to avoid reading the script from his body language.